Religion in the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Paper Summary:

This paper states that, although there are significant political, cultural, historical and geographical aspects of the dispute over the "Holy Land", the Israeli-Arab conflict is based on deeply rooted religious beliefs and attitudes held on all sides. The author stresses it is essential to understanding of the basic beliefs of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, their similarities and differences, conditions for the permissibility of war and killing and the significance of the Holy Land. The paper concludes that when religion is involved a peaceful reconciliation can come from the differing faiths only when their interests are combined.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Conclusions: Is Peace Possible?

From the Paper:

"Islam shares some key beliefs with the other two faiths. For example, Muslims believe in the total "unity" of God much like in the Jewish faith. Further, Muslims also share the same Prophets with Judaism and Christianity. These include Adam, Noah, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus (whom they regard as a prophet, and not divine). Further, they also believe that Jesus was born of a virgin birth just as in Christianity. Even in areas of practice, Islam shares some striking similarities with the other faiths. For example, Muslims do not eat pork (like observant Jews), and they also share many of the same moral rules (no sex outside of marriage, the prohibition of killing and stealing, etc.). However, Islam differs radically from Judaism and Christianity in that it does not allow the drinking of alcohol, does not observe the Sabbath on the same day, and considers Jewish and Christian believers to be in grave error due to their rejection of Jesus and Muhammad as legitimate prophets."

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